Who left UofM in better shape for his successor?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6080878

i think these were the two best paragraphs from the article:


"Are there regrets or second thoughts? If I didn't say that it wouldn't be true," Rodriguez said. "But it's still a great place. It's a really good job. It can be a great job if everyone is supporting you and pulling in the right direction. Maybe that's what [new coach] Brady [Hoke] is going to get because he was at Michigan before.

"Everybody's got their own theory of it. My personal theory -- and this is talking to people that were there before I got there -- is that when Bo Schembechler passed away that driving force to get everybody pulling in the same direction may have gone with him. I think there were some battles that were being fought even before I took the job," he said.

i, of course, agree with him that michigan under him was set to have a couple of very big years. i agree with his assessment on divisions, bo schembechler, even the timing-- to an extent.

but the showing in the bowl was pretty bad. you look at what happened in connecticut with and the burton familly, its pretty obvioius to see how firing RR maybe got beyond DD's control. too many boosters would have been pissed by giving him more time.

i read a probable theory that DB wanted RR to hire a new defensive coordinator, but RR couldnt lure a quality one in since his job security was so tenuous, which goes back to fan /booster's lack of support.

to me, brandon should have been more supportive. tell some respected members of the michigan family (lloyd, for one) to vocally support the coach, tell braylon to stop saying "lloyd carr's university of michigan", etc.

i like what i've seen from hoke and think he'll do well here, but i'd still rather have RR.

This is a tough question, because "the cupboard was bare" for Rodriguez ONLY because so many people left based on their feelings for the offensive philosophy. Mallett obviously would have won far more games than Nick Sheridan/Steven Threet.

I think that's what makes the question easy Jeth.

Yeah, it's not a hard question.

This is a tough question, because "the cupboard was bare" for Rodriguez ONLY because so many people left based on their feelings for the offensive philosophy. Mallett obviously would have won far more games than Nick Sheridan/Steven Threet.

I'm pretty sure I remember both Manningham & Arrington stating that they would've stayed for their Senior year had Mallett not left. Throw them in w/ Mathews, Clemons and Hemingway and its easily the best WR corp in the B10 in 2008. Carson Butler would've thrived w/ Mallett at QB but was utterly useless w/ RRod, and both Brandon Minor & Carlos Brown had plenty of reps in Carr's final year, and would've easily been able to carry the load. O-Line had Boren, Schilling, and Ortmann -- instead RRod got stuck having to play walk-on Bryant Nowicki and converted DL Ferrara in most games.

On defense, Terrance Taylor at DT, Brandon Graham & Jamison at DE, Mouton, Crable, Johnny Thompson, and Ezeh at LB (Ezeh was a stud in '07) and the DB depth was far better than it is now (Stewart, Woolfolk, Brandon Harrison, Stevie Brown, Trent, Warren, Michael Williams). Also who knows what could've become of guys like Marques Slocum (granted Slocum was a lazy slob) or Artis Chambers.

Plus the young talent was much richer w/ Martin, Van Bergen, Cissoko, Molk, and Stonum all on the up-and-coming (all of them were originally Carr recruits)

I don't think its even a debate that Carr left the program in much better shape...

The article prompted the poll but it'll be interesting to see the teams record a few games into the season. Not saying that determines it all but it should have some bearing on things.

I think that's what makes the question easy Jeth.
Yep.

So you would all suggest that the cupboard is totally bare, in comparison, for Hoke? He returns almost every starter from a bowl team, and a slew of talented defenders who were victims of the world's worst defensive scheme in history to go with one of the most prolific offenses in college football.
It's long past time to defend RR, which I was done doing, and both transitions involve trying to fit players from a totally different scheme, but I don't think it's a landslide either way.
The shakeup needed to happen. Carr's teams were so blasted boring to watch and were good for bad losses every year. RR was a total failure, but destroyed the Ronald Johnson theory that the Big Ten isn't interested in speed.

LOL @ "from a bowl team". The defenders missed tackles despite scheme. They were awful. Awful.

some were, but we'll see next year. it should be almost all of the same guys. was it just too much youth / bad system or really bad athletes. i think its the former.

also, alot of this debate hinges on mallett, would he have transfered regardless? we'll never know. but he was on transfer watch basically his entire freshman year. once he was gone, the qb situation was abysmal. we had a walk on qb and another qb who couldnt beat out the walk-on. being as thats the most important position in sports, even more so in RR's offense, and thats a heavy consideration.

hoke inherits the most dynamic player in college football and a 5 star qb behind him.

i'd much rather have this team than the team RR inherited.